I. Introduction
The objective of reproducing the dynamics of the human somatosensory system is typically pursued for two main bioengineering applications: neuroprosthetics and neurorobotics. Regarding the neuroprosthetics field, users of current artificial hand prostheses report the complete absence of sensory feedback as a relevant drawback of those systems [1], [2]. Tactile feedback restoration would then lead to an improved capability of manipulation, and possibly to a better embodiment of the prosthesis; such restoration could be possible thanks to a signal closely mimicking the physiological way in which the tactile peripheral system encodes information. In the neurorobotics field, the interest in mimicking tactile systems lies on the idea of building models which reproduce the advantageous features of natural sensory systems, as the reduction of the computational cost [3]. The developed artefacts, in turn, can be integrated for use in application domains such as surgical, industrial or field robotics, as well as used to test scientific hypotheses [4], [5].